Pahlaj Nihalani refused to sell the rights of Aankhen to Rohit Shetty

If Rohit Shetty had his way, his next film after Singham Returns would have been a remake of David Dhawan’s 1993 superhit Aankhen.
The director was keen to recreate the laugh riot starring Govinda and Chunkey Pandey. But his hopes were dashed when Pahlaj Nihalani, the producer of the original film, refused to sell the rights. A source told Mirror, “Pahlaj told Rohit that he wouldn’t mind him directing the sequel to Aankhen which he is planning but the director was not interested.”
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Confirming this, Nihalani said: “I am going to produce the sequel which I have titled Aankhen Char.However, Rohit was adamant that he wanted to remake the earlier film. I vetoed the idea.”
He added, “I will never sell the rights of Aankhen, not even for Rs 5 crore. I know that I’m sitting on a winning ticket. Frankly, I was not surprised when Rohit’s office contacted me. Aankhen is an evergreen film. If a film like this releases today, it would still be one of the highest grossers.”
Meanwhile, the producer is looking to cast two A-listers in Aankhen Char.
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“Both the actors will have double roles. I am yet to finalise the cast and director though,” he adds. Rohit Shetty remained unavailable for comment.